New homeowners find human remains in garage attic

NEW LONDON, Ohio -- New London police are investigating the discovery of human remains in a garage attic.

Police Chief Michael Marko said the homeowners called police Saturday after making the discovery while digging through old items in the garage attic. They purchased the property, located directly across from the police station on East Main Street, in July.

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"I was real creeped out," said Cortney Hoffer, who discovered the bones while trying to retrieve an antique hair dryer to display in a salon she's opening on the property.

Marko said the bones appeared to be more than 30 years old and female, though there was no indication how the remains got there or whether foul play was involved.

He said 79 bones were recovered, meaning about 100 were still unaccounted for. Police planned to reexamine the garage this week.

"I'm not 100 percent convinced that we found everything. There's so much junk in that garage; we're going to go over it and over it again until I feel confident that there's nothing that we missed," Marko said.

The property used to include a building that housed a doctor's office, which was demolished in 1998 after a fire, investigators said. Police said they are exploring whether the the remains could be connected to the doctor's office.

Former New London Mayor Darwin Anderson had owned the property since 1982 until his death last year, according to police.

"It's very unusual, especially with a small town. We have 2,461 residents. And, needless to say, news like this spread like wildfire," Marko said. "The best case scenario for us is that they were in the doctor's office and there was no foul play."

Marko said the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation was called in to process the scene and is analyzing the bones at its office in Bowling Green, which could take several weeks.